ZCZC
BSS-32
COVID-19-BRIEFING LEAD
Bangladesh reports 21 more COVID-19 deaths, highest recoveries
(updates with more information)
DHAKA, May 19, 2020 (BSS) – Bangladesh today reported 21 more deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 1251 fresh positive cases overnight.
However, the recovery count rose to 4,993 in the same period after a record 408 patients were discharged from hospitals, health officials said.
“Twenty-one more COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 370,” DGHS Additional Director General (administration) Prof Nasima Sultana told a virtual media briefing at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in the city.
Nasima said the tally of coronavirus infections has climbed to 25,121 during the time after 1251 new COVID-19 cases were detected.
She informed that a total of 8,449 samples were tested at the 42 authorised labs across the country during the period.
Bangladesh confirmed the first coronavirus death on March 18, ten days after the detection of the first COVID-19 cases.
Among the total infections, 19.21 percent patients have recovered while 1.46 percent died so far since the first COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the country on March 8, the heath official said.
Nasima said nearly 75 percent COVID-19 patients are taking treatment from their homes, and many of them are being cured every day after receiving treatment through hotlines.
She said among the 21 deaths, two are in their 30s, two in their 20s, five in their 40s, five in their 50s, four in their 60s, two in their 70s and one below 20.
Among the COVID-19 victims, the health official said seven are in Dhaka city and rests are outside the capital city.
According to the division-wise data, 14 deaths took place in Dhaka division, four in Chattogram division, one in Mymensingh division, one in Khulna division and one in Barishal division.
Analyzing the overall trend of COVID-19 in the past three weeks, Nasima said a total of 3792 positive cases with 35 deaths were reported from April 26 to May 2, 4980 infections with 39 fatalities from May 3 to May 9 and 9,225 cases with 101 deaths from May 10 to 16.
She said COVID-19 cases were found in 64 districts, meaning that all regions of the country are now risky for the fatal disease.
The health official dubbed Dhaka and Narayanganj COVID-19 as “hotspots” as the maximum number of cases were detected in the two cities.
According to the data of DGHS, Chattogram division, with 1,644 cases, has been identified as a “new epicenter” of COVID-19.
As of May 17, Dhaka city has been considered as the worst-affected with 57.38 percent of COVID cases, while Dhaka division has remained at the top position with 77.58 percent infected cases out of total coronavirus patients, according to Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
Of the total infections, 12,933 cases were reported in Dhaka division, 1,644 cases in Chattogram division, 565 cases in Mymensingh division, 351 cases in Khulna division, 161 cases in Barishal division, 525 cases in Rangpur division, 245 cases in Sylhet division and 246 cases in Rajshahi division, it added.
Among the COVID-19-prone districts, Narayanganj is the most hardest- hit one with 1,463 cases, according to the IEDCR data.
It was followed by Chattogram with 695 cases, Gazipur with 527 positive cases, Munshiganj with 329, Cumilla with 298 cases, Mymensingh with 295 cases, Dhaka with 290 cases, Rangpur with 272 cases, Kishoreganj with 207 cases and Narsingdi with 174 cases.
Other districts where significant number of COVID-19 patients were detected include Madaripur with 63 cases, Gopalganj with 83 cases, Shariatpur with 71 cases, Lakhkhipur with 89 cases, Cox’s Bazar with 185 cases, Jashore with 108 cases, Habiganj with 112 cases, Jamalpur with 120 cases, Netrokona with 108 cases, Chandpur with 81 cases, , Dinajpur with 56 cases, Nilphamari with 52 cases, Barishal with 60 cases, Noakhali with 113 cases, Brahmanbaria with 67 cases, Joypurhat with 69 cases, Chuadanga with 87 cases and Jhenidah with 44 cases.
According to the age-group, 8 percent COVID-19 cases are in their 60s, 13 percent in their 50s, 18 percent in their 40s, 24 percent in their 30s, 26 percent in their 20s while 8 percent is above 10 years and 3 percent below 10 years, Nasima added.
As per the gender-based calculation of COVID-infected cases, 68 percent are male and 32 percent female, she said.
The health official said a total of 1,93,645 samples have so far been tested at 42 PCR labs since the detection of the first COVID-19 cases in the country.
Of the total 42 PCR labs, 21 labs are in Dhaka city and 21 outside the capital city, she said.
The government is expanding healthcare facilities for COVID-19 patients, Nasima said, adding 500 isolation beds are being prepared at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, while 200 beds are being readied at Mymensingh Nursing College dormitories.
She said in the past 24 hours, a total of 4150 isolation beds have been added to the healthcare services in Dhaka city. There are 13,284 isolation beds in the country and 7,250 of them are in Dhaka city.
She said in case of critical COVID-19 patients, special facilities including oxygen, ICU and dialysis units are needed in hospitals.
At present, the country has a total of 399 ICUs and 102 dialysis units, Nasima said, adding in the past 24 hours, 60 ICUs have been increased in Dhaka city.
According to the DGHS, a total of people 2,47,491 were kept at both home and institutional quarantine and 1,96,274 people were released from quarantine, while the number of people who are now in quarantine is 51,217.
It said a total of 626 institutions have been prepared across the country for keeping over 31,840 people in quarantine, adding nearly 3,616 people have now been kept in isolation.
The health service organization said as part of taking preventative measures to stop imported cases of COVID-19, the authorities of all gateways, including airports, land ports and waterways, are continuing screening of all foreign returnees. It said the government has collected 2,329,032 PPE so far, of which over 19,81,772 were distributed and 3,47,407 are in stock.
The DGHS sources said till today, nearly 62,86,791 people received healthcare services from hotline mobile numbers and health web portals as the government formed a group of medical professionals to provide emergency health services.
To receive information and treatment facilities on COVID-19, the contact hotline and mobile numbers are 16263; 333; 10655 and 01944333222.
As of May 19, 2020, 10:47 GMT, 320,448 people have died so far from the COVID-19 outbreak and there are 4,910,683 currently confirmed cases in 212 countries and territories, according to Worldometer, a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics.
China was the world’s first country which on January 11 reported the first death from the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei province.
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